Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V44

Effects of Chemical Mutagenesis and Adaptive Evolution on the Marine Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum for Enhanced Carotenoid Accumulation

Zhiqian Yi, Maonian Xu, Manuela Magnusdottir, Yuetuan Zhang, Sigurdur Brynjolfsson, Weiqi Fu

Center for Systems Biology, Univerisity of Iceland, Sturlugata 8, 101 Reykjavik

Kynnir / Presenter: Zhiqian Yi

Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Weiqi Fu (weiqi@hi.is)

Marine diatoms have recently gained much attention as a potential resource in the production of value-added products such as carotenoids, biofuels and vitamins. However, there are still obstacles for massive production in cell factory due to high cost and relatively low productivity. In order to make photosynthetic cell factories more feasible, it is essential to develop effective approaches for enhancing the cost-efficiency and productivity of value-added products. In this study, we utilized chemical mutagen methylnitronitrosoguanidine (NTG) to generate mutants in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and screened strains with enhanced accumulation of neutral lipids and carotenoids. Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) was also used to develop phenotypic and biological functions in P. tricornutum and ALE applied on diatoms was proven to be successful for the enhancement of growth performance and productivity of carotenoids. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was utilized to study the composition of major pigments in the wild type P. tricornutum, NTG mutants and ALE strains. The study is still in process and later positive mutants selected in NTG mutagenesis will be applied to ALE. Combining mutagenesis and ALE could be an effective approach for developing desired phenotypes in the marine diatoms.